retainer

/ɹɪˈteɪn.ɚ/noun

retainer is a noun meaning “Any thing or person that retains” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is spelled R-E-T-A-I-N-E-R and has 3 syllables, and it appears 1.3 times per million words in written English (wordfreq, 2021 data). The plural of retainer is retainers.

What does retainer mean?

noun

1
Any thing or person that retains.
2
A dependent or follower of someone of rank.
3
A paid servant, especially one who has been employed for many years.
4
A fee one pays to reserve the other's time for services.
This lawyer charges a retainer for his work.
5
A device that holds teeth in position after orthodontic treatment.
6
A retaining valve.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How do you pronounce retainer?

UK /ɹɪˈteɪn.ə/
US /ɹɪˈteɪn.ɚ/
US /ɹəˈteɪn.ɚ/

Retainer has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-retainer.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of retainer

retainers plural

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How common is retainer?

Retainer appears 1.3 times per million words in written English, the 24,745th most frequent word form in the list.

retainer0.0010.010.11101001,00010,000

rarerper million words of written Englishmore common

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you abbreviate retainer?

Wiktionary records one abbreviation of retainer: retnr..

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Retainer in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

Language	Words
Portuguese	retentor (any thing or person that retains), aparelho (dentistry: device)
French	faux-palais, contention (dentistry: device), suite (dependent or follower), serviteur (paid servant), avance (fee)
German	Retainer, Zahnspange (dentistry: device), Dienstmann, Gefolgsmann, Vasall (dependent or follower), Bediensteter (paid servant)
Spanish	retenedor (ortodóntico / ortodóncico) (dentistry: device), criado (paid servant), anticipo (fee)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does retainer come from?

From retain + -er.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).